Dining at the Stinky Rag, I mean H&V

[bytheblood]

Hollywood & Vine

My sister and I call this place, "The Stinky Rag"


Pros:
Decent Service
Quick Seating


Cons:
Smelly Restaurant
Limited Food Choices
Buffet food is taken up 30 minutes before restaurant closes

Thursday, December 13
6:00 PM


This was my second visit to Hollywood and Vine and honestly, it will probably be my last.

We were seated very quickly, immediately as a matter of fact.

Each time I visit H&V, I notice that the entire place smells like an old mop or mildewed rag. I am not sure if that is how diners smelled in the 50s, and this is a "piped in scent"

but if they did, I feel sorry for the people that ate at them.

For the length of the buffet, there are not really a lot of choices. All of the cold salads are made with the same flavors. Everything is oil, vinegar and a blend of garlic, onions and oregano. All of the meats are either very bland or have such a strong foreign flavor that you are unable to determine what you are eating.

I did enjoy the mashed potatoes, prime rib and the tomatoe & mozzarella. The rolls were so hard I could have knocked my waitress out with one. The dessert buffet is okay, but I am scared to eat anything off of it because it is so open. I see kids helping themselves to the desserts with their hands instead of using tongs.

Our waitress was good. She has been working there since it opened and was very sweet. She had our drinks out very quickly and refilled our tea each time before we were even down to 1/4 of a glass.

About 30 minutes before closing, they started picking up all the food. They closed half of the buffet and the other half was out of most of the foods. I guess in the future when I go to a buffet I will not go any less than 2 hours before closing. Though our waitress was nice, I felt like they were pushing us out the door.

Overall I give Hollywood & Vine a C.


Scores
Cleanliness: F
Food: B-
Characters: NA
Service: A
Wait: A+

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks for sharing your review with us.

 

[G's mommy]

Thanks for the review. I agree with you, H & V is one restaurant we avoid at all costs.

 

[KatMark]

I agree with most of what you wrote. However, we thought the seating time was horrendous (we were seating 20 minute after our ADR's and we had one of the first times and the service was absolutely horrendous--it took our waitress 20 minutes to come over to our table and another 15 before she brought our drinks). We've done it twice and both times were awful. It is only one of two Disney restaurants we will never return to.

 

[catne]

wow, sorry you had such a bad time there. We enjoyed it (May 2008)

 

[bytheblood]

Yikes KatMark, your experience was much worse than ours. We do not plan to dine there again either. We are going to give Mama Melrose a go.

I wish that Disney Studios had more dining options.

 

[KatMark]

Yikes KatMark, your experience was much worse than ours. We do not plan to dine there again either. We are going to give Mama Melrose a go.

I wish that Disney Studios had more dining options.

I wish they had more options too. We've done Mama Melrose the last three years. We've always had great service and good food (not gourmet, but good).

 

[Im_with_Dopey]

ok, I'm scared now We have a adr there next month.

 

[sandybobandy]

I appreciate your review!

I love how different people like different things-it's one of my and my husband's favorite restaurants. We love the food, the atmosphere, everything.

Sorry you didn't like it-I'll take your plate!

 

[tomerin]

we have eaten here on our last 2 trips and we have nothing but great things to say. last year we did the first seating, i figured this is the best time to go to a buffet because the food is fresh. we were seated and had our drinks asap and the proceeded to enjoy a wonderful meal. yes it was early but i did not notice anything i could complain about. what makes this place a must do for us is that my son and wife are picky eaters with my son being a pill sometimes and they have never ever complained about the food.

i guess maybe if you can make an earlies ADR it makes a difference

 

[KatMark]

we have eaten here on our last 2 trips and we have nothing but great things to say. last year we did the first seating, i figured this is the best time to go to a buffet because the food is fresh. we were seated and had our drinks asap and the proceeded to enjoy a wonderful meal. yes it was early but i did not notice anything i could complain about. what makes this place a must do for us is that my son and wife are picky eaters with my son being a pill sometimes and they have never ever complained about the food.

i guess maybe if you can make an earlies ADR it makes a difference

Actually we had one of the first seatings on our second visit and we waited 20 minutes to be seated and the place was no where near full--just very disorganized. But we love other restaurants that people hate so it is just a matter of taste and preference. Thank goodness Disney offers so many different options--keeps us all happy.

 

[noahdove]

I have a ADR in just a few weeks...now, I am worried

 

[bytheblood]

I have a ADR in just a few weeks...now, I am worried

Well, give it a shot. Maybe your experience will be better.

I will admit, I am somewhat of a food snob. I am an excellent cook and mediocre food does not do it for me. Food for me does not have to be rich, but I like it flavorful. Some people might not like as much spice or sauce as I do. That is the great thing about a place like WDW where there are a lot of restaurants, there is something for everybody.

For me, the biggest thing was the smell of the place, that ruined everything else.

Be sure to post a review when you return. I look forward to hearing about your experience.

 

[Ka-chow!]

Maybe they'll have a trapdoor under your chairs to get to out faster next time.

 

[copperbrick]

Noahdove and I'm with Dopey: You probably know this already, but you're not locked into your reservation. You can call Disney Dining any time and check to see what else might be availalble. I've already changed reservations four times! (And I may not be done yet.)

 

[ChefaStepha]

I agree with you whole-heartedly! I very much so dislike that place! And the charges for it never showed up on our credit card. Strange...

 

[angelmav]

Wow, we loved the H & V. I have noticed though that this place gets bashed pretty regularly in reviews, but just a shot in the dark here, I bet most of those that dislike H & V dont normally care for any buffet?

For those that do enjoy buffet's, we thought the selection was pretty good, the spooned cornbread great, plenty of peel & eat shrimp/mussels that we felt we got our money's worth right there and they brought fresh horseradish on request for the prime rib.

We also thought the desserts were fabulous, the chocolate and key lime tortes were great.

Of course, we like and frequent buffet's.

 

[KatMark]

Wow, we loved the H & V. I have noticed though that this place gets bashed pretty regularly in reviews, but just a shot in the dark here, I bet most of those that dislike H & V dont normally care for any buffet?

For those that do enjoy buffet's, we thought the selection was pretty good, the spooned cornbread great, plenty of peel & eat shrimp/mussels that we felt we got our money's worth right there and they brought fresh horseradish on request for the prime rib.

We also thought the desserts were fabulous, the chocolate and key lime tortes were great.

Of course, we like and frequent buffet's.

Actually, we really enjoy buffets (we do Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe, Biergarten, etc.), but we are one of those that dislike H&V. Maybe we've just had bad luck at H&V, but after two horrendous experiences we just won't go back.

 

[bytheblood]

Wow, we loved the H & V. I have noticed though that this place gets bashed pretty regularly in reviews, but just a shot in the dark here, I bet most of those that dislike H & V dont normally care for any buffet?

That is not the case for me. I just don't like this one and Chef Mickey's in particular. Both are because of the food.

 

[disneybell]

We really disliked H & V too. It seemed dirty and claustrophobic to me. The food was our worst on the trip - just very basic nothing special. We will never eat there again.

We do like buffets, on our next trip we are doing Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, and Boma. Well, I guess I should say, we don't go to buffets anywhere but at Disney World.